Dhaka, 27 April, 2017 - Bangladesh is facing a“considerable” data gap for monitoring Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as data of less than one-third of the indicators are readily available while two-thirds are either partially available or not available at all, revealed a study report titled “Data Gap Analysis for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Bangladesh Perspective”.

Out of total 230 indicators (Bangladesh did the analysis with 240 indicators as seven indicators repeated twice and two repeated three times) to monitor the 169 targets under 17 global goals, data of only 70 indicators are readily available while data on 108 indicators are partially available and 63 indicators related data are not available at all, said the report prepared and published by General Economics Division (GED), Planning Commission.

The report along with two others, Banking Atlas and Environment and Climate Change Policy Gap Analysis in Haor Areas, was launched at a programme jointly organised by GED, Planning Commission and Support to Sustainable and Inclusive Planning (SSIP) Project, UNDP Bangladesh at NEC Conference Room at Planning Commission in Dhaka today.

Mr. A H M Mustafa Kamal, FCA, MP, Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Planning, was present at the programme as chief guest while Dr. Wahiduddin Mahmud, eminent economist and former Professor, Department of Economics, University of Dhaka; and Mr. Sudipto Mukerjee, Country Director, UNDP Bangladesh as special guests.

The Planning Minister said that Bangladesh is well-prepared for implementing the SDGs and hoped that like Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Bangladesh will rank a top position in achieving the SDGs also.

Regarding data gap in monitoring the progress of SDGs in Bangladesh, he said, “Unlike MDGs, SDGs came with so many disaggregated data, therefore, we have to generate national and local level data against the new indicators. We have already asked all the data producing agencies to provide or generate the data and will soon get the remaining ones.”

About the preparation for implementing the SDGs in Bangladesh, the Planning Minister said, “Bangladesh is a self-starter, a front-runner in SDGs campaign and you will be happy to know that we have already taken an all-out effort to achieve the goals. We have already integrated the SDGs into our 7th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) and completed a mapping of targets by ministries to determine the responsibility who will do what,” he said, adding, “An SDG Need Assessment and Financing Strategy and a Results-based SDG Monitoring and Evaluation (RBM& E) Framework will also be finalized soon.”

“The government is fully committed to achieve the goals and obviously we will achieve many of the targets well before the set deadline, 2030,” he added.

While making a presentation on the findings of the report, Dr. Shamsul Alam said, “We have done the exercise as part of preparation to implement SDGs successfully. Now we know, what sorts of data we have and what we have to do to get the remaining data against the SDGs indicators. With the support from relevant ministries/divisions/departments, and under overall leadership of National Statistical Organisation, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), we will soon chalk out a detailed plan to get the remaining data to monitor the SDGs progress in the country.”

According to the SDGs Data Gap Analysis Report, a paltry 29 per cent of total data are readily available while 26 per cent data is not available at all. Forty five per cent data is partially available that needs modification, addition and analysis in the existing census or surveys in order to use those for monitoring.

The analysis also identified the ministries/divisions/departments responsible for providing administrative data for SDGs indicators with Statistics and Informatics Division (SID) for providing/generating data of highest 93 indicators followed by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for 52 indicators.

Professor Dr. Wahiduddin Mahmud said, “The commitment to ‘leave no one behind’ has been a key feature of the SDGs and disaggregated level data is the only means to identify who is being left out.”

The study report titled “Banking Atlas” showed “substantial improvement” in access to and use of formal banking services at Upazila level in Bangladesh in between 2010 and 2015, sending a strong message of improvement in financial inclusion, a development tool advocates by the UN to help accelerate growth and cut poverty.

The number of branches of the banks, accounts, amount of deposit and amount of credit has increased during the time (in between 2010 and 2015) connecting more rural poor to the formal financial network.

The Workshop Outcome Document on “Environment and Climate Change Policy Gap Analysis in Haor Areas” recommended for better coordination among government agencies, engagement of private sector for development in haor areas, and efforts to be taken to preserve and conserve haor bio-diversity and ecosystems.

The report also recommended for inclusion of economic importance of haor areas in national curriculum, engaging local people and the community in haor development, give lease the waterbody to social organisation instead of individual by revising the waterbody regulations.

The report also suggested for conducting a comprehensive survey on haor areas to assess economic valuation of haor resources and rolling out new programme to bring diversification of agricultural products to improve life and livelihood of haor people.